1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to quality control testing of cable connectors. More particularly, the present invention provides a method and apparatus for testing the cable spring force, or the extraction force, of a cable connector.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cable connectors provide the connections between devices such as a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, and a motherboard of a personal computer, which must communicate electrical signals, or data, between one another. Typically, a "female" connector, having multiple sockets in a predetermined number, spacing and configuration mates with a "male" connector having multiple pins which match the number, spacing and configuration of the sockets. The pins of the male connector engage the sockets of the female connector and thereby provide multiple electrical connections between the electronic devices attached to each respective connector. These connections enable data and information, in the form of electrical signals, to be communicated between the respective devices. In order to ensure the proper operation and communication of information between such devices, strong and reliable connections must be provided by the cable connectors. Therefore, in the cable connector manufacturing industry, and in other industries in which cable connectors are used, the quality of the cable connectors is of paramount concern.
Cable connectors provided by well-known cable connector manufacturers such as 3M and AMP have a reputation for reliability and quality in the industry. These cable connectors are typically factory tested and, therefore, do not need to be further tested by, for example, an end user for quality assurance. However, many new or smaller cable connector manufacturers have emerged, which manufacture what are commonly known in the industry as "generic cable connectors." Since many of these manufacturers do not factory test their cable connectors, a fast and efficient method and apparatus for testing the quality and reliability of these generic cable connectors is necessary. Also, since there are various types of cable connectors, having differing force specifications and connection configurations, a method and apparatus which can accommodate these different types of cable connectors and measure the various extraction force ranges associated with each type of cable connector is needed. As used herein the term "extraction force" refers to the force necessary to extract a specified number of header pins from the sockets of a cable connector.
These smaller cable connector manufacturers, many of which are located over-seas from the United States, typically do not provide or list the values of the extraction force strength for each cable connector design. Since basic designs and materials can vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, it is necessary to measure the extraction forces of these various cable connectors to ensure the quality and reliability of the products made with such connectors.
Historically, cable connectors from well known manufacturers such as 3M and AMP have worked reliably in most applications. However, generic cable connectors are typically much less expensive than the cable connectors manufactured by such well known companies. Therefore, if end-user quality control tests can be efficiently implemented on such generic cable connectors, product manufacturers who use such generic cable connectors can achieve the same results at a much lower cost.
In addition, there is presently no standardized method and/or apparatus, of which the Applicant is aware, for testing cable connectors, such that quality assurance tests performed by one company or vendor would be meaningful to another company or vendor. Therefore, a method and apparatus for testing the extraction force values of cable connectors, which may be easily and conveniently implemented by many vendors is needed to standardize quality control testing of cable connectors in the industry. By reporting the measured extraction force value of a particular type of cable connector, or by providing the measured extraction force values of a sampling of cable connectors within a particular shipment, using a standardized or well-known testing method and apparatus, cable connector vendors can provide reliable quality control statistics to their customers.